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Affordable housing developer plans $17.5 million project in Russell

Affordable housing developer plans $17.5 million project in Russell

The apartments were last renovated in 1996, according to city documents. | Courtesy of Jefferson County PVA

A California-based multifamily housing developer plans to spend $17.5 million to redevelop 48-year-old affordable apartments at South Ninth and West Jefferson streets, according to city documents.

Allied Argenta plans to renovate the existing 125-unit complex called Henry Greene Apartments, which rents to tenants based on their income levels. The complex is bound by West Jefferson and Congress streets from South Ninth Street to just past South 11th Street.

“The Project will renovate, improve and maintain an affordable housing option for Louisville Metro by converting seven (7) of the units to be fully ADA accessible and improving the energy efficiency of all units, replacing old galvanized plumbing line, providing improvements to the landscaping, walkways, parking areas, site lighting, and remodeling the existing clubhouse to serve as a multi-purpose community room for the residents and partnering with other entities to provide literacy programs and workforce training programs for the residents on-site,” according to a Louisville Metro Council document.

The proposed outline of the TIF District | Courtesy of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government

The apartments were last updated in 1996, the document state.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Louisville Metro Council’s Labor & Economic Development Committee will host a public hearing regarding a resolution that would make the roughly 4.4-acre apartment property a TIF, or tax increment financing, District. If the TIF District is approved, then Allied Argenta could receive up to $1.27 million in tax incentives from the city.

The proposed ordinance notes that the Henry Greene Apartments are located in an area in which 40 percent or more households are considered low-income and that its current condition is a hindrance to economic development.

The apartments sit just north of Beecher Terrace in the Russell neighborhood. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Louisville a $29.5 million grant to raze the 758-unit public housing complex and replace it with mixed-income housing. The grant also will fund initiatives focused on educational and economic opportunities; the city hopes to use the grant to leverage more than $200 million in additional investment in the Russell community.

According to Jefferson County property records, the current landowner is Citizens Housing Corp. of Louisville. However, Allied Argenta plans to buy it. Insider reached out to a leader at Allied Argenta but did not immediately hear back.

The company was approved for a 40-year, nearly $17.5 million Kentucky Housing Corp. tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bond “to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation and equipping of the Henry Greene Apartments,” according to documents from the state.

Louisville native Caitlin Bowling has covered the local restaurant and retail scene since 2014. After graduating from the Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Caitlin got her start at a newspaper in the mountains of North Carolina where she won multiple state awards for her reporting. Since returning to Louisville, she’s written for Business First and Insider Louisville, winning awards for health and business reporting and becoming a go-to source for business news. In addition to restaurants and retail business, Caitlin covers real estate, economic development and tourism. Email Caitlin at [email protected]